Ir absorbing coatings comprisiing fluorinated nanoparticles

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to solution processed nanomaterials, and methods for their manufacture, with activity in the infrared (IR) region for a variety of commercial and defense applications, including conformal large-area IR coatings, devices and pigments that necessitate an absorption band edge in the MWIR or LWIR.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method for making an infrared absorbing coating material comprising the steps of:
 providing quantum nanoparticles, said quantum nanoparticles comprising stabilizing ligands on a surface of the nanoparticles;   fluorinating the surface ligands on the quantum nanoparticles;   providing a fluorinated resin; and   embedding the quantum nanoparticles into the fluorinated resin to produce the infrared absorbing coating material.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the quantum nanoparticles comprise quantum dot nanoparticles. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the quantum dot nanoparticles have an average diameter of from about 2 nm to about 100 nm. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the infrared absorbing coating material absorbs mid-wavelength infrared bandwidth from about 3 μm to about 5 μm. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the stabilizing ligands comprise partially to fully fluorinated hydrocarbons. 
     
     
         6 . A method for making an infrared absorbing coating material comprising the steps of:
 synthesizing SnTe quantum nanoparticles comprising surface ligands;   interchanging the surface ligands into fluorinated ligands;   providing a material comprising a resin; and   embedding the SnTe quantum nanoparticles into the resin.   
     
     
         7 . A method for coating a surface with an infrared absorbing coating comprising the steps of:
 providing an amount of infrared absorbing coating material, said material comprising a fluorinated resin comprising embedded nanoparticles;   delivering the coating material to a surface; and   allowing the coating material to dry or cure onto the surface.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the nanoparticles comprise particles selected from the group consisting of: quantum dots, tetrapods, nanorods, cubes, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the nanoparticles comprise surface ligands, and further comprising the step of fluorinating the surface ligands. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the nanoparticles have a dimension of less than about 100 nm. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the surface is selected from the group consisting of: a smooth surface, an irregular surface, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the surface is selected from the group consisting of: a flat surface, a compound contour surface, a curved surface, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         13 . An infrared-absorbing coating comprising:
 a fluorinated resin with quantum nanoparticles embedded into the fluorinated resin.   
     
     
         14 . The infrared-absorbing coating of  claim 13 , wherein the nanoparticles comprise particles selected from the group consisting of: quantum dots, tetrapods, nanorods, cubes, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         15 . The infrared-absorbing coating material of  claim 13 , wherein the quantum nanoparticles comprise quantum dots. 
     
     
         16 . The infrared-absorbing coating material of  claim 15 , wherein the quantum dots comprise fluorinated surface ligands. 
     
     
         17 . The infrared-absorbing coating material of  claim 15 , wherein the quantum dot nanoparticles have an average diameter of from about 2 nm to about 100 nm. 
     
     
         18 . The infrared-absorbing coating material of  claim 13 , wherein the infrared absorbing coating material absorbs mid-wavelength infrared bandwidth from about 3 μm to about 5 μm. 
     
     
         19 . The infrared-absorbing coating material of  claim 13 , wherein the infrared absorbing coating material absorbs long-wavelength infrared bandwidth from about 6 μm to about 15 μm. 
     
     
         20 . A base material having a surface coated with the infrared-absorbing coating material of  claim 13 , said surface selected from the group consisting of: a smooth surface, an irregular surface, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         21 . The base material of  claim 20 , wherein the base material comprises at least one area selected from the group consisting of: a flat surface, a compound contour surface, a curved surface, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         22 . An object comprising base material coated with the infrared-absorbing coating material of  claim 13 , said object designed to be exposed to an environment selected from the group consisting of: terrestrial, aerospace, marine, and combinations thereof.